As one type of image processing apparatuses as electronic equipment, an image forming apparatus (typically a copy machine) for forming an image on a sheet of recording paper has been introduced to many places of business (companies and offices). A multi function peripheral (MFP) as one type of such image processing apparatuses has a plurality of operational modes including copy mode, facsimile mode (hereinafter facsimile is also denoted as FAX), network-supporting print mode and scanner mode.
A digital image forming apparatus has various and many image processing functions and it is capable of outputting image data (original document) input by a user in a desired form. By way of example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-309115 (hereinafter referred to as '115 Reference) discloses an image forming apparatus automatically rotating by 90° and printing image data generated by reading a document on a sheet of recording paper, even if a feeding direction of the set sheet of recording paper (conveying direction) is different from the orientation of the document. The image forming apparatus determines, from the size of set document and copy magnification, an appropriate size of a sheet of recording paper for forming an image, selects a sheet of recording paper of an appropriate size from among sheets of recording paper set in a paper feed unit, and rotates the orientation of the image to be aligned with the orientation of the sheet as needed. Thus, it is possible to form the document image on a sheet of recording paper without considering the state of recording paper (without changing and resetting the direction of recording paper).
In this image forming apparatus, however, how the document image is actually formed on the sheet of recording paper cannot be confirmed until after the document image is printed on a sheet and output from the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the document may be miscopied and the print may not be in a form desired by the user.
As a solution to this problem, an image forming apparatus having a preview function has been known, which utilizes an operation panel consisting of a display panel such as a liquid crystal display capable of displaying images and a touch-panel superposed on the top surface of the display panel. The preview function refers to a function of displaying an image representing a finished state (the final state of image that will be formed on a sheet of recording paper including post-processing such as binding or stapling) on the display panel, before actually forming the image on a sheet. By way of example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-77616 (hereinafter referred to as '616 Reference) discloses an image forming apparatus having a display/operating unit having a liquid crystal display screen. The image forming apparatus allows display of a print preview image on the liquid crystal display screen before actually copying, when an image is formed with its magnification changed. Thus, the user can confirm beforehand how the image will be recorded and reproduced on the sheet and give an instruction to output after it is confirmed that the image will be output in his/her desired form. Thus, misprinting can be reduced and waste of consumables recording paper, toner and the like) can be avoided.
A digital multifunctional peripheral provided with an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) as a device for automatically feeding documents to a document reading unit has also been widely used. By simply setting documents on the ADF, documents can automatically be fed to the document reading unit one by one and a large amount of original documents can be read with high efficiency.